LAST Friday I wrote about how the bureaucracy frustrates people in so many ways. I gave a few examples of the type of treatment meted out by our “public servants.” In response to this article I received many calls and e-mails. People asked why, with the world progressing at lightning speed, are we so absorbed with paperwork? One person phoned me and said that he was certain that some bureaucrats derived “sadistic pleasure” from frustrating people.

A young Saudi girl born in London told me how easy it was for her to get a copy of her birth certificate. She just went to the Internet and clicked to the registration site of the local council and got it. And this was an original copy. Another young Saudi wanting to register for university summer courses was late in reaching the United States — because of bureaucratic delays. He didn’t panic. He simply went straight to his university’s website and chose his classes.

In many nations, people now have immediate access to information and control their own lives. They don’t have to beg or plead for services that are their right. Their lives have been made simpler and relaxing. Therefore one easily notices the stress level in societies where the bureaucrats are less accountable.

It is particularly astonishing when someone requests a government service that is clearly within their rights and they are denied. Take the recent case of a woman whose husband became HIV positive. The Ministry of Health provided her with a document attesting to that fact and also to the fact that she was HIV negative. In Islam such a woman has the right to an immediate divorce.

The woman went to court to obtain a power of attorney so that her lawyer could act on her behalf and obtain the divorce. Even though she had the letter from the Ministry of Health, a copy of the family identity card, her passport and two witnesses, she was denied the right to have the power of attorney issued unless she presented the original family identity card.

The family card was always in her husband’s possession. How should she obtain it? She was advised by the court to take it when her husband wasn’t looking. And what if she was unwilling to commit an act of theft? Then she could go to the police and have them come to her home and physically remove the family card from her husband’s custody. Of course she would still be married to the man, living in his house and under his control after such action. In horror, she fled the halls of justice.

Just this past Wednesday I read a letter in this newspaper by Amer Ali Aseeri lamenting the fact that he had been waiting for years for the court to decide in a case which had to do with property. He said that every person tried to shift responsibility to the other. The question is how can this be allowed to happen? And why are the interests of the people not looked after?

There are strict instructions from the government that people’s work should be done in the briefest of time. Yet if you just go and ask you will hear tales that will really depress you. In addition to delays, different departments have different sets of rules. But what irritates me the most is when employees pass the buck. “It is not my responsibility” is a oft-heard sentence.

A couple of years ago I saw a letter addressed to a department, which had nine signatures on it. It was a simple request, which had been turned into a major production. I do hope and pray that my articles and those of others such as Mishaal Al-Sudairy, Abdullah Abul Samh and Muhammad Al-Faidi, which focus on issues concerning bureaucratic red tape will soon be redundant. Inshallah, a new dawn will break and our public servants will get down to work and produce.

I close with a story told by a friend after the poor man was unfortunate enough to apply for a post office box. After a long wait the man was given a box. When he went to take charge of it he asked for the keys. He was told that he had to make a separate application for the keys. My friend said that he almost suffered a heart attack.

These are incidents from the past. Let us pray that when future generations read our archived articles they will smile about these long solved issues. — [email protected]